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Chapter 38And then every one wrote his sentence, sealed it, and laid it under king Darius his pillow;9And said that, when the king is risen, some will give him the writings; and of whose side the king and the three princes of Persia shall judge that his sentence is the wisest, to him shall the victory be given, as was appointed.10The first wrote, Wine is the strongest.11The second wrote, The king is strongest.12The third wrote, Women are strongest: but above all things Truth beareth away the victory.13Now when the king was risen up, they took their writings, and delivered them unto him, and so he read them:14And sending forth he called all the princes of Persia and Media, and the governors, and the captains, and the lieutenants, and the chief officers;15And sat him down in the royal seat of judgment; and the writings were read before them.16And he said, Call the young men, and they shall declare their own sentences. So they were called, and came in.17And he said unto them, Declare unto us your mind concerning the writings. Then began the first, who had spoken of the strength of wine;18And he said thus, O ye men, how exceeding strong is wine! it causeth all men to err that drink it:19It maketh the mind of the king and of the fatherless child to be all one; of the bondman and of the freeman, of the poor man and of the rich:20It turneth also every thought into jollity and mirth, so that a man remembereth neither sorrow nor debt:21And it maketh every heart rich, so that a man remembereth neither king nor governor; and it maketh to speak all things by talents:22And when they are in their cups, they forget their love both to friends and brethren, and a little after draw out swords:23But when they are from the wine, they remember not what they have done.24O ye men, is not wine the strongest, that enforceth to do thus? And when he had so spoken, he held his peace.

Chapter 41Then the second, that had spoken of the strength of the king, began to say,2O ye men, do not men excel in strength that bear rule over sea and land and all things in them?

1 Esdras (Greek ), Greek Ezra, is an ancient Greek version of the Biblical book of Ezra in use among ancient Jewry, the early church, and many modern Christians with varying degrees of canonicity and a high historical usefulness.